Bournemouth hotel was removed from Booking and Expedia

The Queens Hotel & Spa in Meyrick Road, East Cliff, went into administration earlier this year with hotel owner Gordon Hotels Ltd owing more than £17m. 

Philip Dakin, who was appointed as joint administrator along with Janet Burt of London-based Kroll Advisory, previously said trading performance at the hotel had been “below expectations”. 

And a progress report recently published by Companies House has revealed the hotel was unable to be listed on third party booking websites such as Booking.com and Expedia.com. 

The reason, Mr Dakin said, was because the hotel was Mercure-branded under a licence agreement with Accor. 

The hotel is now back on the booking websites (Image: Daily Echo)

However, the French hospitality firm was also owed around £400k when the administrators were appointed in March. 

Mr Dakin revealed that after talks with Accor, the agreement would be terminated, resulting in it being unable to be listed on third party booking websites. 

“Once the de-branding had been completed over a period of several weeks, the issue was resolved,” Mr Dakin said. 

“However, there was a significant impact on hotel bookings in the interim [between March and September].” 

Accounts show that Queens Hotel had net sales totalling £1.26m as the business traded normally. The hotel is not back on these websites. 

In addition, when the administrators were appointed, there were 44 people employed at the hotel. Although some had since quit, replacement staff were hired and that is now 57. 

The administrators also spent the summer trying to sell the hotel, to pay back some of the debts owed to creditors. 

“During the reporting period, 43 parties have registered an interest in the business and signed a non-disclosure act,” Mr Dakin said. 

“Numerous site inspections have been conducted and the joint administrators have received a number of offers which are being considered. 

“The sale process is ongoing and further details cannot be shared at this point in order to avoid prejudicing the outcome.” 

The four star hotel underwent an extensive £2.6m refurbishment in 2020 but in the last two years, “significant” turnover in general managers has meant the business has struggled to run efficiently.  

Inflation, supply cost rises, the cost-of-living crisis, legacy debt and a decrease in staycations are all being blamed for an “erosion” of profits.